taking off

[stuart wanuck]

nikon d 300 600 mm lens
manual iso 400 1200 @ 5.6
capt james ft desoto standing in the water
last april what an experience

[Morkel Erasmus]

what a stunning bird - a spoonbill? we only have white ones here in South Africa. love the depth - the water leading to the bird and the BG beyond, also the colours, pose and exposure.

how about cropping some off the top to get rid of the green strip in the BG? some might find it distracting?

[Fabs Forns]

Stuart, I love the pose and colors. I think it needs some CCW rotation and more sharpening in the face.
Nice talking to you yesterday, hope you are feeling better.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I love the pink reflection heading towards the viewer, reflection might need a better transition (part OOF--part sharp?). I agree with the haircut on top and I might borrow more room on the right too, great moment in life capture.

[James Salywoda]

Well Done! Nice takeoff pose great wing position

[A_Maddah]

Hi stuart
great shot.good timing.
Asad

[Mital Patel]

this is a fantastic frame with nice action.

bottom water waves are touch up badly and its not possible to have nearest and farthest subject in focus .
how come the middle portion of water out of focus and front water waves and the bird are in focus ?

suggest you to think of that and re-process your image again.
also i've found some brush hard patch visible on right bottom part shows your cloning and smoothing work done there.

Your bird is just good. you just need to re-work on water level area.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

I might be in minority...but I think it will be better without that much reflection. Just leave enough room for virtual feet. and a little CCW rotation as noted above. things I liked: (a) the water around the feet (b) the tilt of the bird (c) the wing position

[Mark Dumbleton]

The pink reflection leading to the bird does work well! Like the take off pose, but dont like the tag on the birds foot. Awesome colours!